Numerical Modeling of the Tuyere Surface Abrasion under Different Operating Conditions of Blast Furnace

Abstract

The wear of tuyere in blast furnaces is a common problem in iron‐making production. One of the wear types is the abrasion caused by the impact of the coke and coal particles on the tuyere surface, which is also related to the hardness of the tuyere material. In this study, a computational fluid dynamics model is developed by considering pulverized coal injection, coke reaction, tuyere's heat transfer, and temperature affected hardness of the tuyere. With the obtained velocity field and temperature profiles, the heat transfer simulation with the particle abrasion model is applied on the tuyere surface to calculate the abrasive rate. The results indicated that the high temperature and severe abrasion occurred mostly on the tuyere's top surface for all simulated cases. The abrasive rate on the tuyere surface is around 5.2 × 10−6 kg (m2 s)−1, and the peak value reached 9.87 × 10−6 kg (m2 s)−1 under the operation condition of 0.26 oxygen concentration. The high‐temperature area on the tuyere surface is a key factor that affects the abrasive rate. The statistical analysis showed that the area of the temperature over 1000 K can reach nearly 30% for 0.26 oxygen concentration, while this area is less than 10% without oxygen enrichment.